MALKY MACKAY had got the tea and biscuits out to welcome Sir Alex Ferguson to Cardiff City’s training base on Friday.

But the Bluebirds boss was probably in need of something stronger to celebrate Cardiff clinching their place in the Championship play-offs after a tense afternoon in South London.

Irrespective of Middlesbrough’s result at Watford, Mackay knew his side needed only a point here for the Bluebirds to make the end-of-season shoot-out for the third year running.

But it’s not Cardiff’s style to do things the easy way and they had to recover from Wilfried Zaha’s 13th- minute shock to the system to book a date with West Ham, whose third- place finish was guaranteed by Southampton beating Coventry to return to the Premier League.

They spent the first half plugging away for an opportunity and Palace’s Welsh goalkeeper Lewis Price was risking not being allowed back in the country with a series of impressive stops. Palace stayed resolute in flooding men behind the ball while the Boro game was perched on a goalless knife-edge.

On such occasions, especially when the heavens opened to leave Selhurst Park in danger of being washed away, it can be an error from goalkeeper or defender which can lead to salvation for promotion chasers.

But this time it was down to a piece of pure brilliance after Liam Lawrence was bundled over near the bye-line by Palace full-back Matthew Parsons eight minutes into the second half.

Palace were probably not unduly worried as Peter Whittingham lined-up the free-kick and the heavy artillery marched forward from the back expecting the ball to be arrowed in their direction.

They were to be disappointed, but only for a split second as Whittingham outragously went for goal and found the bottom of Price’s net from a ridiculous angle.

Joe Mason might have laid claim to the goal as television replays showed the ball possibly brushing his hair on the way through to goal.

But it wasn’t a time for disputing who got the final touch. Certainly not the 3,000 Bluebirds fans who had made the early-morning journey from South Wales and were delirious as Whittingham and his jubilant teammates celebrated in front of them.

But there was more to come and, in many ways, it was a strike of even greater quality which confirmed Cardiff’s top-six finish.

Aron Gunnarsson’s long throw was sent airborne for Mark Hudson to get a decisive touch and the ball dropped for Don Cowie, getting the nod over Stephen McPhail to start after being out for two weeks with a groin complaint.

There was plenty for Cowie to do from the edge of the box, not least engineer a path through a crowd of Palace defenders, but he produced a volley of wonderful technical quality to leave Price groping thin air.

The strike was a dagger through Middlesbrough hearts, the sense of despair at Vicarage Road almost palpable across London even before Chris Iwelumo had fired Watford in front in the final quarter.

The game was up for Boro as Cardiff kept the ball and their composure, Mackay urging his troops to pass, pass and pass again.

Zaha fired a shot wide but David Marshall was ably protected by those in front of him, Hudson a lion at the back galvanising those around him to stay focused and see the job through.

Whittingham kept pulling the strings, Cowie expended even more energy than usual after his enforced absence and Mason’s nuisance value rises with each game.

Palace had little to play for apart from pride and the temptation to exact revenge for their Carling Cup semi-final defeat in January.

Even though they were without a win in eight games, boss Dougie Freedman insisted his players wouldn’t be thinking about their summer holidays and a rival unburdened by pressure is always a dangerous opponent.

Cardiff started brightly and came close to opening the scoring in the third minute when Liam Lawrence tried his luck from range.

Price couldn’t hold the ball on the greasy turf but the Wales goalkeeper redeemed himself when he recovered to smother Mason’s rebound effort at the near-post.

Gunnarsson soon fired over from 25 yards but as Cardiff probed Palace profited from their first attack with Zaha underlining his burgeoning reputation.

The Palace flier peeled off his markers to find Darren Ambrose and then galloped into the space behind Andrew Taylor and Ben Turner to race onto a splendid return ball and slip the ball beyond Marshall.

The pattern of the game was now firmly set, Cardiff dominating possession and territory and Palace content to utilise the pace of Zaha and Sean Scannell on the break.

Mason managed a header which Price comfortably gathered and there was an identical moment of action at the other end as Marshall held on from Glenn Murray.

With so many Palace players compacted in their final defensive third, Cardiff were having difficulty creating clear-cut chances and frustration grew as Lawrence, Whittingham and Mason all fired over.

There was a clearer sight of goal four minutes before the break when Whittingham played a quick free-kick into Lawrence’s path.

Hudson met his cross with a downward header and the crowd held its breath but Price clutched onto the ball.

Had Palace held out Cardiff for any length of time in the second half then Welsh nerves might have been stretched to breaking point.

But although Kenny Miller drilled across goal and then sent a header wide there was no time for anxiety as Whittingham unleashed his dead-ball potency and Cowie claimed a candidate for volley of the season.

So it’s now 10 games unbeaten for Cardiff and as Mackay pointed out that is serious momentum to take into the play-offs.

West Ham will start as favourites for the two-legged semi-final, but you can bet that Fergie will be among those refusing to write off Cardiff’s chances.